When Yue Sheng sent Wan Mulin back to Shanghai to arrange everything, he successfully brought Gao and Tao back to Hong Kong. He thought he had done it without anyone noticing, but as soon as he reported to Chongqing, they already knew the whereabouts of Gao and Tao, and even knew their hiding place in Hong Kong. Yue Sheng knew that the Military Intelligence Bureau must have made arrangements in Hong Kong. Later, the director vaguely mentioned this in a telegram.

However, Yue Sheng genuinely didn't know which department this force belonged to. Upon hearing Jiang Tianhe's words, he was startled and couldn't help but blurt out, "Is it Ning Zhiheng's men?"

Yue Sheng was naturally familiar with Ning Zhiheng, and had even dealt with him quite a bit back then. However, at that time, Ning Zhiheng was just a major and deputy stationmaster at the Shanghai station, so Yue Sheng didn't pay him too much attention.

However, this person later rose rapidly through the ranks, entering the central government of the Military Intelligence Bureau and gaining control of the military. He became an absolute high-ranking official in the Bureau and the representative figure of the Baoding faction in the intelligence department, a position far beyond what he had held before.

If they were to meet again now, even Yue Sheng would have to bow his head in humility; it's no longer the same as it was back then.

"So that's how it is! No wonder Brother Yu Nong never mentioned me even though I've been in Hong Kong for so long."

It seems that even the Director couldn't control this force, and Jiang Tianhe naturally couldn't either. Yue Sheng couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

"Brother Yuesheng, I still have work to do and I need to go out this afternoon. I'll have to trouble you with the blueprints!"

"Okay, don't worry, I will do my best to find it and let you know as soon as I have any news." Yue Sheng nodded in agreement immediately.

That evening, in a secluded villa, Ning Zhiheng was listening to a report from his subordinates.

Zuo Gang spoke first, saying, "Chief, we've been keeping an eye on Yue's residence for two days. He hasn't come out, but several people have come to visit. Our intelligence team has identified them as local gang leaders and businessmen from the Chamber of Commerce."

"Are they all locals? Didn't you find anything else?" Ning Zhiheng asked.

"Yes, around 4 p.m. this afternoon, six people came out of the Yue Mansion and drove away in two cars. Based on the surveillance records from the previous few days, the intelligence team identified that these people were not from the Yue Mansion. We immediately sent people to follow them, but strangely, these people had extensive experience in counter-surveillance. The two cars separated shortly after leaving the Yue Mansion. We were worried that they would notice us, so we gave up following them in order not to alert them."

Ning Zhiheng immediately asked, "Did they get alerted?"

"No, we only followed one of the cars, but the other driver was very skilled and managed to create distance in the busy area near Central. If we continued to follow, we would easily expose our whereabouts, so we had to stop following. It wasn't until around 8 p.m. that the two cars returned to Yue Mansion, and none of the people were missing."

Speeding up in a busy urban area is a standard counter-surveillance technique in intelligence training. At this time, if you carefully observe the car behind you and see another car making the same movements, it is easy to identify that someone is following you. Based on this, Zuo Gang decisively abandoned the tracking operation.

“These people are very experienced in intelligence and are unfamiliar faces. They are probably not Yue Sheng’s men. They are most likely people sent by headquarters. Their actions may be related to the blueprints. You need to increase your efforts to monitor these people and send more people to set up surveillance around the area. I need to know their whereabouts. Also, if possible, take more photos so that the brothers can identify them.”

"Yes!" Zuo Gang nodded in acceptance.

Ning Zhiheng then saw Shen Xiang and asked, "Has the Japanese consulate made any moves?"

Shen Xiang shook his head and said, "Not at the moment. The Japanese consul did meet with the British side once, but the military attaché, Suzuki Hidehiko, has not been seen. There are many other people coming and going, and we don't have the ability to track them all."

Ning Zhiheng didn't have high hopes for this either. The current situation was like looking for a needle in a haystack, and there weren't many means to do so. The goal was to monitor the reactions from all sides and determine the direction of the search.

He began, "Now all that's left is to find out what the British are up to. Hongyi, have you made contact with Yongfeng yet?"

“We’ve already made contact by phone, and we’ve arranged to meet at 8 p.m. the day after tomorrow to discuss things in detail,” Ji Hongyi replied.

During the intelligence meeting in Shanghai, Huo Yueze had arranged his contact information with Yong Feng in advance, just in case. Ji Hongyi was able to contact Yong Feng without much effort.

"oh?"

Ning Zhiheng hesitated for a moment, then pressed on, "Did she arrange the time herself?"

"Yes!" Ji Hongyi nodded and said.

“There’s no news, so there’s no point in her seeing us. In other words, she might have gained something.” Ning Zhiheng immediately perked up, his eyes gleaming.

The British are currently the most likely to find the blueprints. Ning Zhiheng doesn't have high hopes for the Japanese or the Military Intelligence Bureau, but he is most interested in the British reaction. In this regard, he can only rely on Yong Feng's line.

“Well done. I’ll go see her in person. This woman has been operating in South China for many years and her intelligence network far surpasses ours. We don’t have enough resources in Hong Kong, so we can only spend money to find help.”

At this moment, Shen Xiang reported, "Chief, the matter of investigating the miniaturization equipment that you asked me to do has been settled."

"Oh, tell me quickly!"

“Currently, such high-end equipment is still very scarce in Hong Kong. According to the targets you previously indicated, we have conducted a search and found only two microfilm devices. One is in the archives of HSBC in Hong Kong, and the other is in the library of the University of Hong Kong. Both of these devices have matching copiers. As for whether other classified departments have them, we are not sure at the moment.”

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